Photos by:

Old world traditional romance meets exotic Vietnamese customs to create a breathtaking wedding where family memories were honored along with the bride and groom’s nuptials. Immortalized by Loreto Caceres Photography, this unique wedding is sure to inspire anyone who wants to mix distinctive style with family tradition.

From the bride, Judy: For our wedding, Hai and I really wanted to celebrate both our relationship and our Vietnamese heritage. When I envisioned our day, I saw soft flowers and pastels bathed in candlelight. I wanted an open space that felt homey and romantic with small personal touches spread here and there. I didn’t choose specific colors, and when asked if I had a theme, I would say buzzwords like “vintage romance,” not even comprehending what that meant truly.

I am from Texas, and Hai is from Rochester, so when we learned most of our extended family and friends would be coming to our wedding in New York, we were extremely grateful and wanted it to be an incredibly fun, yet elegant, reunion. We collected cherished family photos to share at the “Family Memories” and “Wish You Were Here” tables. Hai’s father and all of our grandparents have passed away, and it was important to us to remember them. We heeded the advice of many friends to focus on the things that would be most significant in the long run, and to us, that was the ceremony. We asked Hai’s brother to hold the ceremony and my brother to bookend it with the final reading. In Vietnam, the Wedding Tea Ceremony is traditionally the wedding itself, and we wanted to be sure to incorporate the custom. We served tea to our parents to signify our love and respect for all of their sacrifices before receiving gifts from them. All of the little hairs on my body stood straight up when both of our moms couldn’t put their gifts of jewelry on me because they were so overwhelmed with emotion, and Hai jumped in and finished both jobs, tricky clasps and all.

Before our personal vows, we said traditional vows in Vietnamese followed by a nearly audible “whoa” from our Vietnamese guests. When it came time for me to give the ring to Hai, I realized out loud that I hadn’t written the entire ring passage down in my little book and had to cheat off of Hai’s. That was a very public “oh no” moment for me, but I was so happy I didn’t care and erupted in boisterous laughter. I could go on about all of the details and moments: getting ready with my closest friends, standing with my parents so emotional before walking in, hearing Hai’s vows to me, the overpowering visual of most everyone we cherish getting down with us on the dance floor, etc. I’m sure most people feel their wedding day is the best day yet, and when I’d hear this during the frustrating planning process, I would think there was no way all of this trouble could be worth it. But it was a dream of a day — weekend really — for us, and we still can’t believe it all came together so wonderfully.